Check-out counters for selfservice-stores



July 7', 1959 B. o. SUNDBERG CHECK-OUT COUNTERS FOR SELF-SERVICE-STDRES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov 1, 1957 y 7, 1959 Y B. o. SUNDBERG 4 2,893,517

CHECK-OUT COUNTERS FOR SELF-SERVICE-STORES Filed Nov. 1, 195'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3.

United States Patent O CHECK-OUT COUNTERS FOR SELF- SERVICE-STORES Bengt 0. Sundberg Vallingby, Sweden Application November 1, 1957, Serial No. 693,869

Claims priority, application Sweden November 5, 1956 '1 Claim. (Cl. 186-1) In rationalizing the distribution of goods in retail business thedevelopment of the check-out counter has been of great importance. It is so arranged that the cashier is seated within an angularly shaped counter and the counter along one side supports a suitably countersunk cash register while the other side of the counter forms the counter proper .onwhich the customer places his selected articlesandalongwhich he moves during the checking and summing up of their prices and the wrapping or bagging and paying for the same.

To facilitate the cashiers work which often also includes the Wrapping, it has been proposed to provide this other side with an endless continuously driven conveyor. Due thereto the articles will move without the cashier having to push them forward, but the articles have also the constant tendency to move away. Such conveyors generally provide a wrapping or packing assistant, who takes up the articles after having passed the cashier and helps the customer to pack the same.

The present invention has for its purpose to provide a check-out counter which is suitable for use even when the cashier works constantly or periodically alone. To this effect the driving motor of the conveyor is connected in response to a control member operated by the person operating the cash register in such manner that the movement of the conveyor is intermittent and may be adjusted to the order of time the articles are placed on the conveyor.

According to the invention the control member may be adapted automatically to energise the driving motor for the conveyor as the cash register is operated or to be operated in any other manner for instance by aid of a photocell when placing the parcels on the conveyor. In the latter case a combination of both control methods may be used. Thus the photocell may be combined with the cash register in such manner that it is inoperative for instance between a finished total taking and the first next entering of an item, so that the conveyor may be used as a conventional counter for paying transactions and so on.

In the first case, here described, the control member may either be a switch in the power circuit of the conveyor driving motor, said switch being actuated by the main shaft of the cash register, or a similar switch controlled by a relay in the power circuit of the cash register driving motor.

The invention involves the advantage of proportioning the displacement of the conveyor in response to the number of checked parcels and while the cashier still has the parcels within reach.

Another advantage consists in the fact that the counter remains a counter in the real meaning of the Word so that objects, that may be put on the counter will not disappear. This may be important both as regards money on payment as also by registering goods, that also requires other medium of exchange than money as for instance counters, bottles or other receptacles.

Advantageously the conveyor does not run all day such as at periods when no customers pass and the cashier need not think of connecting and disconnecting the conveyor.

According to another feature of the invention a selected transaction or mode of operation corresponding to a certain adjustment of the cash register may determine the period during which the motor is energised and thereby the length of the displacement of the conveyor so that for instance the machine operation for total taking gives an extremely long displacement by the action of a special timing relay.

Such a lengthened displacement may also be of a certain importance in order to separate lots belonging to several customers In order that the invention will be better understood a preferred embodiment will be described with reference to the annexed drawings.

In the drawings Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a check-out counter provided with a conveyor according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows a detail perspective view of said counter with members broken away to show the endless conveyor means, and Fig. 3 shows a circuit diagram of the electric connections of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the check-out counter according to Fig. 1 a conveyor 1 is provided along one side herein referred to as the customer counter of the angularly shaped counter and a cash register 2 is located on the other side of the counter.

As shown, the cashier is seated so that she may operate the cash register with her right hand, while simultaneously handling the parcels with her left hand. In this position the cashier sits with her face turned towards the countersunk corner surface 3 of the counter on which the customer may put his articles or the basket containing the goods.

Suitably in the extension of the customer counter flush with the same or at a lower level a shelf 4 is provided.

As is obvious with a practically necessary length of the customer counter it is very advantageous according to the invention to control the movement of the conveyor in correspondence with the cashiers rate of working.

Fig. 2 shows a detail view of the check-out counter in Fig. 1 and corresponding parts of the counter are designated with the same numerals.

The conveyor 1 is driven by a roller 5, operatively connected to an electric motor 6 and is carried by rollers 7 and 8 respectively at the opposite ends of the customer counter. By means of said rollers the tension in the conveyor may be controlled.

By controlling the connection and disconnection of the driving motor 6 and possibly also the speed of the same an intermittent movement according to the invention is obtained.

A diagram of the electrical circuits according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 5.

By means of a plug 9 the electrical device may be connected to the line. A switch 10 provides the connection and disconnection of the conveyor driving motor 11 to and from the electrical control means according to the invention. By the aid of a suitably foot operated switch 12, the movement of the driving motor 11 may be controlled at will by the cashier. The motor 13 of the cash register may be connected to the electrical control means through a plug 14.

As soon as the start key of the cash register is pushed down on an item being entered in the cash register the contact 15 will be closed and the cash register is brought into operative condition. By the power current to the cash register motor 13 a timing relay 16 is energised. Said relay closes a contact 17 in a first power circuit to the conveyor motor 11. Said motor is thus caused to operate and moves the conveyor a desired length. Due to the adjustment of the said timing relay the contact 17 will be closed a required period to provide a desired length of movement of the conveyor.

As soon as all the parcels belonging to one customer are checked and have been put on the intermittently moving conveyor and their prices have been entered into the cash register a total taking is performed. By total taking the respective cashbox 18 of the register is released mechanically or electrically in a manner well known in the art. Thereby a contact 19 controlling a timing relay 20 is closed and the relay is energised. The contact 21 in a second power circuit of the conveyor motor 11 is closed thereby causing said motor to move the conveyor a desired length. By adjusting the timing characteristics of said relay 20 the conveyor may be made to carry out a longer movement than each of those performed in entering the items for the purpose mentioned above.

Although the invention is described in connection with a preferred embodiment of the same it may be modified in any manner within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a check-out counter for self-service-stores supporting a cash register, the combination of an endless conveying band defining a part of the upper plane of said counter, an electric driving motor for said conveyor, :1 first circuit for said motor including first switch means operable between two positions for closing and respectively breaking the said first circuit, first control means operatively connected to said first switch means and to said cash register and adapted to be actuated by the operation of the cash register entering an item therein to close said first switch means, timing means in said first circuit for limiting the closing period of said first switch means to a predetermined value, a second circuit for said motor parellel to said first circuit and including second switch means operable between two positions for closing and respectively breaking the said second circuit, second control means operatively connected to said second switch means and to said cash register and adapted to be actuated upon operation of said cash register for total taking to close said second switch means, and timing means in said second circuit for limiting the closing period of said second switch means to a predetermined value longer than that of said first switch means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,697,220 Anstiss Jan. 1, 1929 1,985,563 Fitzgerald Dec. 25, 1934 2,237,080 Muse Apr. 1, 1941 2,599,906 Farmer June 10, 1952 2,723,728 Crawford Nov. 15, 1955 

